A comparative acoustic study of the speaking and singing voice during the adolescent's break of the voice.

Authors : B. Amy de la Bretèque, S. Sanchez (Marseille)

Ref. : Rev Laryngol Otol Rhinol. 2000;121,5:325-328.

Article published in french
Downloadable PDF document french

Summary :
The observation of the vocal evolution of adolescent singers has shown it takes place in two stages, the singing voice changing after the speaking voice. The same pattern has been encountered and made more explicit with a study of 50 non-singer adolescents. It thus appears that the average pitch of the speaking voice deepening by one octave is not by itself the sign that the break of the voice has ended. This study also shows the individual nature of adolescent vocal evolution and its length (up to two years in one out of four cases).